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_timo_redux_

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 13, 2022
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New York City
I'm traveling right now and reading a book called The Traveling Photographer's Manifesto; let's make this week's theme also about travel.

Vacation shots, exotic shots, en route shots, everyday-somewhere-else shots: show us a travel shot that's personally meaningful. For this contest I'll be looking beyond the clichéd, famous-monument takes; to be clear, there's nothing wrong with making your version of the Grand Canyon, or Louvre, or Manchu Picchu shot ... but you can ask yourself: is your take better than a postcard? It's hard to compete with postcard shots on the level of technical proficiency; but when a picture is personally resonant, well, the sky's the limit.

It's also harder to convey to someone else something personally meaningful when they don't have all the knowledge or backstory of what made the picture meaningful. Try to look at your candidate picture with another's eyes: can someone else see (a little) of what I know is interesting?

But of course, don't overthink it; have fun, and I look forward to seeing the pictures; travel can be so inspiring!


As always, standard rules apply:
  • The photographs must be your own work
  • You may only submit one photo per contest.
  • No commenting or liking photos until after the judging has taken place.
  • This contest runs for about a week, starting now.
  • At the end of the competition, the judge (last week's winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible.
  • The 1st place winner will start a new thread here with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme, after that it defers to 2nd place).
  • Be sure to update the Contest Master List as soon as you post a new theme.
  • Contest ends January 6, 7:00 PM EST; comments thereafter, jet-lag permitting.
 
Replaced my original choice:
ytIj29K.jpeg
 
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Okay, so admittedly this is not an original viewpoint, but when you climb up a mountain, sometimes there are only so many spots you can stand, particularly when most stuff is cordoned off. However, I literally nearly had a panic attack going up Diamond Head because I don't like heights and I was suitably unimpressed with the handrails and other (non-existent) preventative measures so that people wouldn't just roll off the edges, lol. So for me this is my most meaningful travel image, because if I hadn't had a camera in my hand, I'd have let my husband take the kids up and just met them back at the bottom of the mountain.

Web_April_13_2014_001.jpg
 
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Thanks for your patience, everyone. Back at my desk with a long to-do list. Remind me again about that work-to-live versus live-to-work distinction?

@Janichsan I love people in a photo, if only for scale. What a monumental threshold. I like the juxtaposition with the lamp in the foreground, itself also monumental. The architectural elements in the photo suggest to me a tighter crop so that these elements are more the focus of the photo; right now the overhead foliage is making big things seem smaller than they are

@piatigorsky Seen a bit of these train interiors myself lately. I like imagining your wife is perhaps surprised with something in the guidebook coming up. As with Janichsan if this were my photo I’d crop on her, maybe with the woman behind becoming an element in the photo; the right side of the picture with its reflection, poles and empty seat isn’t adding much

@mollyc I have done this hike too! In our case, with my energetic son (so, way ahead) and — didn’t know at the time — anemic daughter (so, way behind.) Once at the top there was nowhere really to stand, which wasn’t necessarily a problem, because it was easy to see a squall of rain was imminent. I thought: we should get down. We collected our daughter on the way, who wanted to shelter for a bit with my wife, while my son and I bounded down. Already-too-long-story shorter: yes, we were all SOAKED, which lead us to buy those “I climbed Diamond Head” t-shirts at the parking lot in part because they were dry. Funny how your picture and my memory are alike in remembering how oddly dangerous that hike is

@C0ncreteBl0nde I make a lot of pictures through windows, and struggle with reflections too. I like series of things, and the framing is good; I’m less into the white balance and the window reflections. Sometimes the reflections can be incorporated into the image; other times I modify my composition (maybe shoot wide and crop later) to put the lens hood directly against the glass

@kendallm I like shots framed though doorways or other thresholds. A pleasing “vortex” image, with the eye drawn towards the graffiti at the center. Lots of squares and textures

@arkitect Chiaroscuro in Rome … of course! Love the inky blacks, the shadows on the wall. Can’t decide if the contrast works well with the graffiti and the signpost on the left … I’m guessing were it my picture I’d crop out the signpost and leave the texture of the foliage on the left in contrast to the ragged edge of the stone on the right. Noticed myself, on my last trip, just how many street pictures I made feature people with their noses in their phones; I suppose our age will come to be defined by these kind of images

@coolguy4747 Lovely. Having tried making a few pictures from a kayak, or on the water, so I know this is also a technically impressive picture. Love looking across the horizon line. Great shot; travel on water is special

@oblomow The pack, the trail, the tree: a nice distillation of hiking in one picture. Looks like it’s going to be a good day

Thanks to everyone for showing us your travels.

3rd @kendallm
2nd @arkitect

1st @coolguy4747
 
Congrats to @coolguy4747
Great photo… 👍

Thanks for your patience, everyone. Back at my desk with a long to-do list. Remind me again about that work-to-live versus live-to-work distinction?

@arkitect Chiaroscuro in Rome … of course! Love the inky blacks, the shadows on the wall. Can’t decide if the contrast works well with the graffiti and the signpost on the left … I’m guessing were it my picture I’d crop out the signpost and leave the texture of the foliage on the left in contrast to the ragged edge of the stone on the right. Noticed myself, on my last trip, just how many street pictures I made feature people with their noses in their phones; I suppose our age will come to be defined by these kind of images


Thanks to everyone for showing us your travels.

3rd @kendallm
2nd @arkitect

1st @coolguy4747
Rats! So close! 🤣

But happy for the mention!

Well, that sign post to me was the thing… so many places to go and where to next — and the person seeking advice on the phone. But I admit the link is not obvious and the narrative tenuous.

So true about the cellphone thing. Pretty much every pic I snap that shows people has at least one person glued to the screen. I agree, it will define our age.
 
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@piatigorsky Seen a bit of these train interiors myself lately. I like imagining your wife is perhaps surprised with something in the guidebook coming up. As with Janichsan if this were my photo I’d crop on her, maybe with the woman behind becoming an element in the photo; the right side of the picture with its reflection, poles and empty seat isn’t adding much
Yep, that may seem to be the case, but in fact my girlfriend (we're not married yet) was anxiously reading the score for Verdi's Requiem whenever we had time on the trip. Her choir was performing the piece not long after we returned, so she was actually quietly humming and practicing her part on the train—evidently to the annoyance of the man on the right of the frame, who simply left his skiing gear on his seat, although I think the group in the back was actually way louder than us. I found it quite amusing that she was practicing all through our trip: when we were strolling along Lake Zurich, she brought along her score to practice, and some of the passersby thought she was one of the many buskers by the lake!
 
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